In 2025, fire departments serving Kent City responded to 51 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
140 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $257K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 17 | -32.0% | |
| 2023* | 14 | — | |
| 2024 | 33 | — | |
| 2025 | 51 | +54.5% |
* Well below Kent City's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 9 building fires Kent City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 44 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 22.7% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 7 | Other | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 15.9% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Kent City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 38.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 8 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 6.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kent City departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $7,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kent City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,556 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 910 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 191 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 175 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 162 | 13.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 151 | 25.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 24.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 119 | 46.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 107 | 14.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 106 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 12.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 12.4 mi |
Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Michigan cities with population within ±25% of Kent City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kent City.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.